 Welcome to this episode of Door Hardware Nerds. Today, we're going to be having a conversation about Wi-Fi operators. I'm your host, Mia Merrill, and I'm joined today by Jay Vikas. Jay, please introduce yourself. Hi, I'm Jay Vikas. I'm director of business development for Norton and I'm happy to talk to you today about operators. It is my passion and my area of expertise within the company. Well, thank you for joining us. And I really want to talk about the addition of Wi-Fi to operators. How has that changed from our past versions? So the design team had a decision to make in the communication protocol from the operator to the device. And the decision was made to use Wi-Fi. And what's unique is that the operator itself, the control board, becomes the Wi-Fi generator or the Wi-Fi hotspot. So that communication goes to your smart device and that device could be a phone, a pad, a book, or a laptop. And the methods were varied, going from a cable to a unique protocol, but the Wi-Fi is the one that we selected. So that's what's unique about this. Okay. So this is browser-based. How is that different than apps that we're all comfortable using for all sorts of things? So interesting question. So this device is designed to work with any version browser, Firefox, Chrome, Bing, et cetera. And when you're talking to a smart device, although we think most people may use it with a phone or an iPad, the desire to want to use it with a notebook, computer, or other really lends itself more to being a browser than an app because the browser, as long as you, as long as any device that could connect to Wi-Fi usually has a browser available on it. And it just makes it more universal, not having to go to an app store, not having to worry about Android versus Apple. So, and all of the code needed is on board the operator. So the browser doesn't have to have any software associated with it. Just a simple launch. It's a much easier, cleaner way of doing it, in our opinion. Okay, so it's a wider accessibility, really. Yes. You can use your preference of device and you can get on whatever method that is. Correct. Okay, so let's address security because I know people will hear Wi-Fi and they go, oh, do I have to have IT involved? Is this on my building's Wi-Fi? Can this be hacked? How have we made sure that that's not a problem? So you're using a unique SSID and just like when you go into Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks and you see that Wi-Fi signal guest pop up and you make that connection, you're making a connection to a secure network which is generated, not from IT, as you mentioned, but from the actual operator control board. And then there's an eight character passcode that you would have to know. It's in the manual or it's on the access door of the operator and the distance that the read range, it's only 20 feet. So there's no real way to hack into the device unless you're at least within 20 feet of the door. So that eliminates any type of external threat. And then after you're done with the Wi-Fi communication after 20 minutes of inactivity, it shuts off. So the likelihood of a breach in security of the device is very unlikely given those parameters. All right, so you're not even on your building's Wi-Fi. The operator itself is generating its own Wi-Fi. You're connecting directly to that. So there's really no incentive to even hack into anything because it's really just to set up this operator. That's correct. Okay, can you run me through how this makes installation and set up easier? Because I know it does. So walk me through that. So a couple of different elements. One is a concept that we have a auto tune feature. And there's really only four things that the operator needs to know in order to get established. So push and pull, we need to know the swing of the door, whether you're gonna be pushing it to activate or pulling it. And then we need to know the closed position of the door. And then we need to know the open position because it's a variable that you could tell the door to open to 90 or even 180 or somewhere in between. And then we need to know the door's size and weight. So when you first make the connection, there's four things that you click radio buttons, push, pull, open, closed and learn. And for all intents and purposes after completing that, those steps, the programming of the operator is done and the operation will be compliant with ANSI, American National Standards Institute A15619, which is the low energy code. Now there's a lot of customizable options you can do using radio buttons and sliders afterward, but for all intents and purposes, that's the only thing you need to do on your smart device in order to initialize the unit and begin a safe operation of it. So do you think anybody's knees are gonna miss climbing up and down ladders to adjust potentiometers? No, in fact, you don't even have to take the cover off to do the programming either. So, and anybody that's programmed a door would have experienced as you're doing the program, people are coming and going through the door. So you don't have any covers, ladders, anything in the way. So it's definitely a significant benefit. Wow, that's great. Well, thank you for joining us today, Jay. We are so glad to spend a little bit of time with you. So thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. Yeah, so below you will find links to the Norton Door Controls website where you'll be able to find all the information you need about what Jay and I talked about today. If you're interested in operators, but you don't know who to reach out to, I've also included a link to find your local DSS office. Please like this video and subscribe to our channel. Thanks for joining us.